


Oxford Comma

by stylesforstiles



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, preppy Harry!, punk Louis!, side smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-24
Updated: 2013-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-09 09:05:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/772446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylesforstiles/pseuds/stylesforstiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>University AU where punk! Louis has a thing for preppy! Harry and his luscious locks, Zayn thinks it's a good idea to join the glee club to get closer to Liam, and Niall you guessed it, works at the local pub.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my life now I'm very sorry but not really

Louis felt a shadow over him, but continued bobbing his head along to the rhythm of the song he was listening to, tapping out a beat on his chest. He heard his name being called, but it just came out as a muffle over Jack White’s raspy voice in his ear. He couldn’t just _stop_ Jack White. It was disrespectful.

“Lou.”

A pause. 

“Louis." 

Louder yet.

“LOUIS!”

A kick to the leg now.

“LEWIS!!!”

Louis opened his eyes, finally pulling out his ear buds to glare up at Zayn, who was hovering above him with a manic grin on his face.

“What the fuck is your problem?" 

He only smiled even wider, rubbing his hands together giddily, “I joined the choir." 

Louis sat up now, putting his iPod aside. “Um, why? And I think they call it glee club nowadays. You know, like the show,” he said pointedly. 

Zayn flopped down beside him, throwing his backpack behind him. Louis took in his profile, wondering why the fuck an art history major felt the need to join the fucking glee club. 

Zayn met his eyes, seeing the impatience in Louis’ as he waited for an answer, his own caramel ones dancing around playfully. “You know that fit guy I kept seeing around campus with the little faux hawk?” He started to make a shape with his hands, as if the term faux hawk didn’t explain it thoroughly enough for Louis.

Louis rolled his eyes. “I know what a fucking mohawk is, Zayn,”

“Faux hawk,” Zayn corrected him.

“Whatever, man.”

Now it was Zayn’s turn to roll his eyes. “My apologies to the punk rock princess,"

Louis sighed, looking absently at his phone. “Zayn, is there a point to this story? I have class soon and I was trying to spend my break in peace. No part of it involved you mocking my punk rock heritage,”

Zayn pouted, getting whiny now. “I was _trying_ to tell you about a fit boy and why I joined the choir before I was so rudely interrupted,”

Louis checked his phone for real this time. He had about 5 minutes. “Okay, okay Kurt Hummel, chill the fuck out. Let’s hear it.”

Zayn glossed over the dig and smiled once again, his voice eager. “Okay, I may have spied on him one day- he also glossed over Louis’ snicker – and noticed that he was on the football team. So I asked some of my mates that played as well about him and voila! Now all I have to do is get Liam Payne to hear my angelic voice, and basically he’ll fall in love with me after that.” Zayn told this last part with a absurd dreamy look on his face.

Louis’ eyebrows rose with every sentence that came out of his mouth. The plan wasn’t entirely bad; Zayn did have a beautiful voice much to Louis’ chagrin. “Why and how does an art major have friends on the footie team?”

“Because I don’t spend all my free time by myself sleeping and listening to obscure music. We’re in Uni, you’re kind of supposed to be social.”

He let his face go serious. “S’not punk rock to have friends.” He laughed a few moments later when Zayn punched him in the arm.

He rubbed at it, mumbling some obscenities at Zayn because, it kind of hurt. He steadfastly ignored him, pulling out a smoke. “All I know is that you better come and see me perform,”

Louis made a noise of disgust. “What did I ever do to deserve that kind of torture?”

Zayn cocked an eyebrow at him, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Excuse me, but who has gone to all _your_ shows? And a lot of them have been complete shit let me remind you.”

Louis reached out to steal the cigarette from his lip, taking a long drag. He scrunched up his face, quickly passing it back over. Still a no on the whole smoking thing. Maybe he wasn’t so punk rock after all. “I can’t go to a glee club concert, Zayn. I have a rep to protect,”

Zayn poked a finger into his forearm. “Says the guy with a Harry Potter tattoo.”

Louis covered his arms protectively. “Shut up, you have a tattoo that says ‘chillin’ in bubble font. You’re one to talk.”

“Got me there, I guess.” He stubbed out his smoke, shoulders shrugging, “It’s not like I asked you to join. Though, I would have to say you’d look a little out of place with all that metal in your face and what not.”

Louis stood up, gathering his bag as he brushed the grass off his jeans. “They should be so lucky as to have my beautiful face grace their presence.” He leaned down to kiss the top of Zayn’s head, ruffling his hair as he backed away, “But yes, I’ll come round to see your twinky little club perform.”

He turned on his heel and he didn’t need to see Zayn to know that there was a middle finger pointed at his back.

*

Louis picked up the pace knowing that he was going to be late for his English Lit class yet again. He started sprinting across campus, pulling out his phone to check just how late he was going to be, when he ran smack into a solid body, sending a pile of books flying everywhere.

“Shit, shit, I’m really sorry, I’m so fucking late,”

He started frantically gathering up the books, thinking about the look of displeasure that was sure to be on his professor’s face, and the stern lecture that he would most likely be getting. Again.

He barely got a look at the stunned individual who had fallen on his ass, blinking up at Louis who was now shoving a pile of books into his arms. When Louis was satisfied he was holding onto them, he gave him a wink and a half assed smile, “Really sorry.”

He started down the hall again when he heard a voice call out behind him. “Hey…you’re in that band aren't you?”

Louis stopped momentarily, looking over his shoulder. He quickly took in the boy on the ground – cheeks flushed pink, plump lips, crazy ass Edward Cullen hair (yes he had a thing for Twilight shut up) – and gave him a grin, “Bet you say that to all the boys. Gotta go, my education awaits me.”

He didn’t think about the boy again until he spaced out in the middle of his predicted speech from his professor – just because you’re graduating this year doesn’t mean you can slack off, you’re consistently late for my class, you’re disruptive, blah, blah, blah – wondering fondly to himself if his hair was so big because it was full of secrets. Who doesn’t like a good Mean Girls reference after all? And hey, someone actually knew his band. This came as a shock to him seeing as the same ten people usually showed up to hear them play.

He mentioned it to Niall later on that night when he was nursing a pint at the bar, watching him expertly mix together drinks.

Niall nodded, lips pursed into an impressed look. “And he wasn’t one of the regulars that usually come to see us?”

Louis shrugged, taking a sip of his Guinness, foam clinging to his upper lip. He darted his tongue out to lick it off. “Dunno, he didn’t look familiar. Didn’t really get a good look at him though. I think I was more shocked he knew about the band. On top of being late for Lit again.”

Louis and Niall had been experimenting with different sounds since they were old enough to play instruments, neither of them ever actually taking it seriously. Louis’ mum refused pay for his education if he was going to ‘fuck about’ – her words, not his – so he picked a major, forensic anthropology or as he called it, CSI shit - and just played music in his free time for the fun of it.

Louis didn’t want to disappoint his mother, and he also didn’t really fancy being a broke arsehole, hanging about in some seedy bar in his 50s, slagging off about how he was supposed have lived the dream. Having a career and actually making money was definitely not punk rock, but hey he could be the cool crime scene guy with tattoos and piercings at work that everyone wanted to be friends with. This was how the fantasy went in his mind at least.

Niall was majoring in business as per his parent’s wishes, so that he could take over the family pub one day. It was basically an institution; the location close to campus was ideal, so it brought in a lot of business from the student body, plus the neighborhood regulars. It had a little apartment building above it where Niall lived, which was also ideal after many drunken nights at the pub over the years.

Louis worked there a couple of shifts a week as well, helping pay for his own shitty little flat down the road, as he refused to live on campus unlike Zayn, who wanted the whole uni experience for some reason.

Zayn was planning on moving to Paris after he graduated, saving the money he made from the pretentious hipster coffee house that he worked in to do just that. Louis and Niall would listen to him drone on and on about how cultured he was going to be when he was wandering the streets of Paris and immersing himself in history, eventually having to cover their ears when it got to be too much. Because sometimes Zayn sounded like an arsehole. But, even so, Louis was still going to feel like a piece of him was missing when he was gone. So he let himself enjoy every part of Zayn, even when he used twatty words like “existential” when describing art to them.

Louis smiled to himself, then straightened up, remembering the actual news he needed to share with Niall. “I almost forgot the best part of this day!”

Niall gave him a questioning look while pouring another pint. “Do share,”

Louis almost squealed with delight. “Zayn joined the fucking choir. The _choir_!”

Niall fumbled with the glass when he placed it in front of Louis, spilling a bit of beer on the dark mahogany bar. He swore under his breath, his blue eyes curious. “What the fuck for, isn't he an art major?"

Louis snorted. “Apparently he likes his art in the form of fit footie players nowadays,”

Niall scratched his head now, even more confused. “Since when are fucking footie players in the choir?”

Louis reached over to pat his hand. “Ever since the TV show Glee happened.”

He shook his head, moving back to fill another order. “Am I supposed to know what the fuck that is?”

Louis clucked his tongue at him. “What’s with all the F bombs? You’re worse than me today,”

“I’m fucking Irish.” He didn’t even bother looking over at Louis, because clearly that was enough of an explanation.

Louis shrugged, paying attention to the match that was on the television above the bar now, thinking that he couldn’t really blame Zayn. Footie players were pretty easy on the eyes after all.

*

After a week or two of about a zillion text messages from Zayn wanting him to come and check out Liam, he finally relented, grumbling all the way to the auditorium as he pulled his beanie down further on his head, huddling his hands back into his soft black hoodie after. He had just worked a few hours at the pub and he really, really just wanted to go home and watch shitty reality television in peace and quiet, but Zayn used his best tactics, promising to buy him dinner after, so he gave in. Which he hated. But always seemed to happen when it involved Zayn.

Louis pulled open the door and peered into the room, training his eyes on the stage until he found the familiar perfectly sculpted black head of hair. He marched down the aisle, depositing himself somewhere the middle, kicking up his feet on the chair in front of him.

He scanned the rest of the stage, flicking his eyes over faces; some recognizable from serving them at the pub, or just around on campus. He figured the one in the practice jersey had to be Liam, and he could see how he was Zayn’s type. Tall. Fairly good set of muscles. Kind eyes. Good hair. He wondered if Zayn was setting himself up for disappointment though, he didn’t really _look_ like someone who liked guys. Not that Louis would stereotype like that, he certainly didn’t look the part either, but he usually got ‘the vibe’ from people. There was no vibe here. There was however, a noticeable amount of staring going on -on Zayn’s part, not Liam’s - and Louis desperately wanted to call him out on it.

Instead another deeper voice called out, “Sorry I’m late!”, while jogging down the aisle to the stage. Louis’ eyes followed the body, and when he shrugged out of his coat he realized that it was Edward Cullen himself. Okay not  _the_ Edward Cullen, or else Louis would have launched himself at him with zero shame, but his hair impostor. He had turned around now, his face flushed pink again like Louis remembered, and dragged a hand through his mop of hair, only to have it bounce right back into place again. Well that was some trick.

Louis took in the rest of him – long legs in the tightest jeans known to man, accompanied by a grey button up shirt, tucked into his jeans no less, his shirt sleeves rolled up at the cuffs exposing skin kissed skin and an expensive looking watch. He had a blazer on to top this look off which he thrown to the side, and the only thing that gave him away as a uni student was the fact that he was wearing a pair of bright white converse on his feet. He looked like a fucking Ralph Lauren ad Louis mused to himself. He wondered if he realized he was the only one dressed for a dinner out at some posh restaurant, instead of practicing bad covers of 80’s ballads in a worn out school auditorium.

Of course Zayn always looked put together; he didn’t know anyone that fucked around with his hair more than he did, but his look was more starving artist than preppy chic, what with his stupid cheekbones, and stupid skin color, and stupid pouty lips. He was looking especially emancipated today in a loose vest, strategically showing off his new chest tattoo Louis was guessing, his black jeans tucked into his Dr Martin boots, and Louis smiled softly, thinking that he was going to look pretty great wandering the streets of Paris, wasn’t he.

He watched as Edward – this was going to be his name until Louis was told otherwise – slung an arm around Liam, leaning over to whisper something in his ear that made him blush furiously and slap him on the back of the head. Hmm. Interesting. They were soon being hushed by the choir director, Mr. Grimshaw, a student favorite at the university. He mostly taught drama classes, and students clamored over themselves to get a spot in them. He was very particular about who he let into his program, but not at all particular in who he spent his time with after-hours Louis noticed after seeing him pick up more than a few times at the pub. Not that it was any of his business. But it was humorous nonetheless.

Once they got started, Louis had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing out loud, because it truly _was_ like watching an episode of Glee. He never thought he would see the day where Zayn Malik would be prancing around on stage, looking wildly out of place – and here he thought Louis would be the one who didn’t fit in – all to get closer to some fit bloke that barely knew he existed. It was just too much awesome for Louis to handle. He let out a few muffled giggles towards the end, which he tried to play off as a cough when he was on the receiving end of some dirty looks from Zayn and a subtle warning from Mr. Grimshaw, “If there are some people in the audience that are in desperate need a lozenge or a glass of water I suggest they leave my auditorium and fix themselves up, or else kindly please shut the fuck up.” He smiled up sweetly at Louis, before turning his attention back to the stage full of wide eyes. Okay maybe it wasn’t so subtle. And Louis made sure to be quiet after that, slouching down further into his seat.

When they were done about twenty minutes later, Zayn came bounding up the stairs to meet him.

Zayn looked at him expectantly, his hands fiddling with the bracelet his was wearing, “Did you see him? Pretty fit, hey? And we weren’t half bad!"

Louis hummed in agreement and nodded, looking down at the stage again where ‘Edward’ and Liam were huddled close and laughing to each other again. He tapped Zayn on the shoulder, pointing in their direction. “What’s up with the object of your affection and Twilight?”

A look of confusion crossed his face as he turned around to see what Louis was indicating. He soon shook his head, barking out a laugh. “You would like the guy with the vampire hair,”

Louis let out an aggravated breath, narrowing his eyes. “I didn’t say a word about _liking_ anyone, I asked what was up with them. Two very different things."

Zayn just gave him an amused smile, crossing his arms over his chest. “Lou, we did not just meet, don’t pretend that I don’t know about your thing for that movie _and_ your hair fetish.”

Louis chose to ignore him. “You still didn’t answer my first question,”

Zayn looked back at them, shrugging. “Him and Harry are just friends. I think they room together.”

“ _Ah_.”

Zayn gave him a little push. “Not like that you twat.”

Louis pushed him back. “So, what are we are doing here, are you going to ask him to come for a drink with us?”

“Louis, I’m only on day four of getting to know him.”

A smug smile spread across Louis’ face. “What, by staring a hole into the back of his head? You didn’t even talk to him.” Louis suddenly felt like someone was watching them. He glanced over Zayn’s shoulder, catching Harry’s eyes as him and Liam watched them with interest. Louis raised an eyebrow. It seems like someone is interested. Should I go ask them to join us?”

Zayn grabbed onto his arm, yanking him out of the seats and practically manhandling him up the aisle, earning him a surprised yelp. “Jesus. alright! You don’t have to rip my bloody arm out of the socket!”

Louis looked behind him one last time as Zayn dragged him out of the auditorium, catching a funny look from Harry Cullen – his new _new_ name – and silently filed away the image of his hair in the back of his mind. Because maybe he did have a tiny fetish.

Okay. Maybe a big one.

*

He got the opportunity to fantasize about the hair again only a few days later when none other than Harry Cullen himself walked into the pub. He had seen him come in the door, watching him look around the room hesitantly like he was trying to spot someone, before landing on Louis’ curious eyes.

He was wearing another posh little outfit – a pair of painted on blue jeans, a soft dove grey jumper that even _looked_ expensive, and Louis didn’t know how clothes looked expensive exactly, but it just did. To top it off he had on a black pea coat and brown suede boots, and Louis really had never seen anything like him.

Louis gave him a half smile when he got to the front of the bar. “What can I get you?”

He chewed on his bottom lip, and Louis tried not to stare at him when he brought his fingers up to it, kind of pulling on it mindlessly. He finally looked at Louis, eyes looking unsure. “Uh, a Stella I guess?”

Louis couldn’t help but smirk at him. “You don’t seem very sure about that,”

Harry startled, actually looking directly into Louis’ eyes this time. “Sorry! Um, weird night is all. But, I’m sure.”

He shrugged indifferently, walking over to the cooler to pull out his beer, popping the cap off and passing it over to him. He paused for a moment as Harry pulled out his wallet. He waved him off, “Nah it’s on me.”

Harry once again looked lost. “What…why?”

Louis leaned over the bar giving him a soft smile. “Why not? Just think of it as a sorry you’re having a bad night or whatever.”

He picked at the label, chewing on his lip again. “I said weird, not bad.”

“Sometimes weird means bad too,” Plus I really like your hair, like a lot, Louis thought to himself. He would have smacked himself in the head after that thought if Harry hadn’t been looking at him intently.

Harry finally took a sip of his beer, shoulders sagging a little like he finally let go and relaxed. He glanced nervously at Louis again. “How come you were at choir practice the other day? Aren’t you already in a band?”

Louis leaned back over the bar, figuring he should probably do some actual work while talking to Harry, so he busied himself with putting away glasses. “My pain in the arse friend is very persuasive. And yes, I do have a band still. It’s quite shit though.”

Harry giggled at that, hiding his smile in his hand. He stopped after a moment, nodding at the chair beside him. “May I sit? I mean if you’re busy I’ll be quiet. I’m just waiting for someone…”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Free country and all that. And as you can see,” he indicated at the quiet pub, “I’m really not busy. I don’t mind the company.”

Harry smiled again, hopping up onto the seat. He held out his hand, his cheeks flushed pink again. Why did that need to be a thing, Louis wondered. “Harry Styles.”

Louis deflated briefly. Dammit. There went his Twilight fantasy. He grabbed the hand anyways, and almost frowned at how his own got engulfed in it. What kind of mutant shit was this? “Louis…Tomlinson. Feels a bit weird introducing last names, doesn’t it? Very formal.”

Harry flushed even more. Shit. “Sorry.”

“It’s just a joke, Harry.”

He looked up quickly as if checking to see if Louis truly meant it. He seemed relieved. “Oh. Okay. Yeah.” His eyes roamed over Louis’ face briefly, pausing at the piercing below his lip. He leaned in, squinting his eyes, “Is that a diamond?”

Louis touched his face out of habit, sometimes forgetting the piercing is actually there. “Just a pretend one I’m afraid.”

Harry inspected it again, before meeting Louis with a smile. “Cubic zirconia.”

Louis furrowed his eyebrows together. “I’m sorry?”

Harry laughed, “It’s what that stone is called.” Louis looked wildly perplexed, causing him to smile wider. Louis flicked his eyes to the dimple that etched into his cheek. “In your piercing. It’s what they use to make fake diamonds. I’m studying to be a jeweler,"

Now it was Louis’ turn to laugh. Harry’s eyes moved over to the crinkles caused by Louis’ smile. “That’s different. I don’t think I’ve met any jewelry majors yet,”

Harry huffed out an annoyed sound, picking at his label again. “I don’t know what you’re thinking it entails, but I actually design pieces. I like imagining how they’re going look on someone you know? I like to do necklaces. Those are probably my favorite.”

Louis held up his hands, shaking his head. “No, no I actually had no idea what it entailed. No thoughts, I promise. Sounds cool though. Maybe I’ll even wear a pair of your earrings one day, who knows right?” He gave Harry a wink, causing him to bite his lip and smile down at the bar.

He looked back up, pointing his beer at Louis before taking another sip. “What about you? What’s your major?”

Louis returned to looking busy when he noticed the other bartender giving him the eye. Yeah, keep giving me that look you tosser, my mates parents only own the fucking place Louis thought in his best smug bitch voice. He gave Harry his attention again, as he was patiently waiting for Louis’ answer. “Oh, um, forensic anthropology. Hoping to work for the police eventually,” he shrugged.

Harry’s jaw dropped slightly. “Wow, you must be like…really smart.”

Looks like it was Louis’ turn to blush. He did not blush. Blushing was not punk rock. “Nah, I’m just good at bullshitting my way through classes,” he joked off. A lie. Louis was incredibly smart actually, taking advanced classes when he first started uni so that he could finish sooner. He wasn’t very good at being patient. He knew that he had a lot of courses to get through in order to obtain his degree, so he killed himself doing that his first couple of years, so that he could spend this last one practically coasting. Though he had to admit he was dying to get out and actually use his degree. Also not punk rock.

Harry looked decidedly impressed as he finished the remainder of his beer, trying to protest when Louis put another one in front of him claiming it was on him. Fucking sue him, maybe he also liked Harry’s smile as well as the crazy mop of hair on his head. And for some strange reason, his clothes were really doing things for Louis too. This was not normal. Since when did Louis find preppy guys that looked like they just rolled out of the Hampton's attractive? Not that he’s been to the Hampton's per say, but he’s seen a shitload of television, so he feels like he has a pretty good idea.

He was turned towards the cash register when he heard a 'hey baby' from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and almost did a double take when he saw a little red head wrapping her arms around Harry’s waist.

Oh.

A girl. That’s who Harry was waiting for.

Louis slapped a smile on his face and filed that away for later as well.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Louis was staring at Harry. He was really trying not to, but well, he was not exactly succeeding. Louis was staring at Harry, which also entailed staring at Mandi – with an ‘I’ she proclaimed when Harry introduced them – and Louis was doing his best not to mime blowing his brains out, because Mandi with an ‘I’ turned out to be fucking grating…g r a t i n g.

So, Louis stared as he methodically cleaned a glass over and over again, hoping his face somehow passed off as neutral. Niall showed up a little while later to relieve him, slapping him on the back so hard it jolted him out of his daydream about smothering Mandi with his dirty dish towel.

Niall flicked him on the shoulder to get his attention. “What’s up, those people giving you a hard time?”

Louis gave him a strange look, finally putting the glass down. “No, why?”

“Because you look like you’re plotting their murder or some shit,”

No, just one murder Louis thought. Singular. Irritated with himself for even caring about this annoying girl, he turned around to walk over and grab his jacket from the corner he threw it in when he got to work.

“Oi, what are you doing, you’re not leaving are you? Don’t make me drink alone,” Niall said with a puppy dog look on his face.

Louis paused in the middle of shrugging on his jacket. “You’re working, how is this leaving you alone?” Louis wagged a finger at him. “And you shouldn’t be drinking on the job, don’t make me tell mummy and daddy.”

However, Louis started to round the bar regardless; he figured he had nothing better to do since he had a late class the next day. And even though Harry’s girlfriend (?) was like the living, breathing version of a Taylor Swift song – you know at first you’re like yeah this isn’t so bad, then you hear it ten thousand times in one week and you’re like oh right, maybe all her exes were onto something, she IS annoying as fuck – Louis wasn’t quite done admiring him from afar.

Niall placed a beer in front of him and followed his line of sight, nodding to himself, a knowing smile on his face. “Oh, I see why you fancy this bloke. The hair. It’s your thing,” he said with his fingers in quotation marks.

Louis snorted indigently. “I don’t even know him. He’s Zayn’s crushes roommate.”

Niall glanced at Harry again. “So, you don’t like the hair then…” He looked back at Louis drawing his eyes over his face, leaning over the bar to investigate him closer. “Not even a little bit?”

Louis felt his eye twitch and Niall snapped his fingers at him, chortling out a laugh. “HAHAHA!! I fucking knew it!”

Louis hunched over the bar, huddling his face away from Harry. “Keep your voice down, Jesus Christ. I don’t think I regret anything more than telling you two idiots about the hair thing. Remind me never to get drunk and watch Twilight again.”

“It’s really about a hundred viewings too late for that.” Niall leaned in closer, nodding his head in Harry’s direction. “So, what’s the deal then?”

“There is no deal…”

They were suddenly interrupted by a familiar squawking that Louis had come to know over the past few hours as ‘Mandi’. They both turned their heads to see what the commotion was. “Hey, do you think I could get another cider?? Pretty please.” She gave Niall her best smile and eyelash flutter, even though he was the fucking bartender and giving her drinks was his fucking job. The nerve Louis thought, choking back a sip of his beer. He was not jealous. He just hated this particular girl who was hanging all over a particular curly someone. It meant nothing. Definitely not jealousy though.

He noticed her waving in his direction now to get his attention. He almost continued ignoring her, but was just too intrigued not to. He gave her a side eyed glance. “Can I help you?”

Apparently immune to Louis’ sarcasm, she started jumping up and down excitedly. “Come join us! Don’t sit over there all by yourself!!”

Louis turned to face them head on, moving his eyes to Harry’s face who looked mortified and terrified all at the same time. Louis was definitely going to join them. “Sure, why not?”

Louis got up off his stool to make his way over to them and ended up having to catch ‘Mandi’ at the halfway point when she launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, squealing with delight, “I can’t believe the fit bartender is going to hang out with us!”

Louis caught Harry’s eyes, who offered him a weak smile and a shrug as an apology. Louis gave him a wink to reassure him, even though he wasn’t very reassured himself. He set her on the ground and she grabbed his hand to drag him the rest of the way, babbling all the while, mostly to herself.

She sat him in a stool and held onto his hands, her boozy eyes boring into his. “Okay, we have already established that you’re very fit,”

Louis looked at her warily now. “Thanks I guess?”

She lifted her hands to her mouth, eyes widening. “Oh my god, you have a tongue ring...”

Louis was really fucking confused now. Why did he agree to this again? Oh right. Harry. “I do, yes. Is this going to propose a problem? Is there an anti-tongue ring club on campus that I don’t know about?”

She giggled, focusing on Harry, and well if she fucking was, so would Louis. “Dana is going to love him,”

Harry’s eyes almost bulged out of his head and Louis finally realized what was going on here. Mandi with an ‘I’ thought he was straight. That was cute. Her glazed eyes were back on him, a wicked smile on her face. “What’s it like?”

“How do you mean?”

Harry interrupted, his voice filled with warning. “M, stop it.”

She rolled her eyes, keeping them trained on Louis and this was getting very strange, very fast. “You know… what does it feel like?”

She started to reach out her fingers, and was this flighty little shit going to have the nerve to touch Louis’ face? He grabbed onto her hands, deciding he was quite done here. He looked her straight in the eyes, and he swore both her and Harry were holding their breath. “I've been told I give the most amazing blow jobs with it, love. Some have even used the term life changing. Now, if you’ll excuse me,”

He dropped her hands, leaving her with her mouth hanging open, not bothering to look at Harry when he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. Once he was outside he pulled out his phone to send an apology text to Niall and shoved it back into his pocket. He ran a hand through his hair, and wondered how the fuck Harry put up with that.

He wished that he had smoked right now so that he could have looked cool and broody when Harry came flying out the front door, but instead he just looked annoyed. Harry however, looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Louis, I’m so, so sorry, she’s like, really drunk,”

Louis groaned. Fuck Harry and his flushed cheeks and that stupid lip bite. His face softened. “It’s fine, don’t even worry about it. I deal with handsy drunk girls all the time. It’s not a problem.”

Harry shifted uncomfortably on his feet, his hands lost in the pockets of his pea coat. Judging from his body language Louis was going to say those hands were making a fist in there. “It was rude. So, I’m sorry.”

Louis had to smile. “Harry.” He still didn’t look up. “ _Harry,_ ” he said more forceful this time, causing him to whip his head up. “Trust me. It is fine…Shouldn’t you get back in there?” Louis motioned to the door.

Harry looked behind him briefly and shook his head. “No, I actually have to be up early. I row…so,”

Great, more upsetting news to Louis. “Oh yeah? What time?” Louis almost slapped his hand over his mouth. No. Why are you asking about the time, what the fuck.

Harry instantly perked up, “Pretty early actually. S’good to go when it’s cool out. I’m usually out there around 7.”

Louis nodded, pulling his jacket in closer. “Wow, that is early. But who knows, maybe I’ll see you around sometime.” He winked again because apparently _that_ was in his flirting repertoire now, and started his walk home knowing full well he was probably going to see Harry again much sooner than he thought.

*

Louis wouldn’t say it was crazy to wake up at the crack of dawn and indulge in some exercise. Not at all. What was better than a morning run in the crisp, cool air? Except that Louis didn’t run, and he most certainly wasn’t a morning person. So instead he grabbed a coffee and strategically placed himself on one of the benches facing the lake that the rowing team practiced on and pulled out one of his notebooks to study. Because Louis was a student. And he could study at whatever time he liked and wherever he wanted.

But really he wasn’t going to do any of that. He instead draped himself along the bench and closed his eyes, shielding them with one of the lighter reads he had brought along with him. He dozed off for a while, opening his eyes again when he heard the faint yelling in the distance. He pulled the book off his face and trained them on the lake, searching for a glimpse of Harry. He finally caught sight of him, his hair being the dead giveaway obviously, but today it was all pulled back into some kind of headband and frankly Louis felt faint all of a sudden.

“ _What the fuck,_ ” he whispered quietly under his breath, even though no one else was around. So, as if the headband wasn’t stressful enough, Harry decided to forgo a shirt this morning. “It’s fucking 8 am, what kind of hell is this?”

Louis really didn’t know where to look as he watched his back, arm and stomach muscles flex and wasn’t it much too early for this? Louis needed to get a grip on his life. Then he realized that he had gotten up at an ungodly hour to see exactly this, so he should really just appreciate it because this whole no shirt thing as it was an unexpected fantasy that he needed to relish in.

He wasn’t sure how long was deemed suitable to watch -okay creep - and he certainly didn’t want to get caught doing it, so he decided to make a stealthy exit out of there. He started walking back home but instead changed his mind at the last minute, taking a detour to the coffee shop where Zayn worked to indulge him in a surprise visit.

He pulled open the door and was immediately met with Zayn’s surprised eyes. He wandered over to the counter, offering him a shy smile and awkward shrug. “Hey, morning,”

Zayn looked nothing but suspicious. “You don’t have class this early, so what are you doing up?”

Louis looked at the menu to distract from Zayn’s eyes. “What, I can’t come visit my friend at work?”

“No. Not when this particular friend of mine is allergic to getting up early.”

Louis definitely didn’t want Zayn to know that his obsessing was apparently rubbing off on him, so he went with a lie. “Ah, just couldn’t sleep. Needed some more caffeine.”

This seemed to satisfy Zayn’s curiosity, who nodded and turned away to grab his coffee. He handed it over to him, taking a sip of his own. “You work last night?”

Louis started assembling his coffee, talking as he went along. “Yep, was alright. Not too busy. Liam’s mate was there with his girlfriend,” Louis hoped the word girlfriend didn’t come out as bitter as it sounded in his mind. Louis noted the different emotions that were crossing Zayn’s face and rolled his eyes. “And no, Liam was not there. I would have messaged you if he was, you idiot.”

Zayn looked slightly relived. “Harry has a girlfriend? What was she like?”

Louis knew that he was going to have to reel himself in to answer this question like a normal person and not one that wanted to throttle Mandi. With an 'I'. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. “I’m pretty sure she was going to stick her fingers into my mouth, and you know how fond I am of having girl’s fingers in there.”

Zayn laughed, reaching over to stuff a piece of cookie into Louis’ mouth. “Because you only like cocks in there right?”

“Exactly,” Louis said around a mouthful of chocolate chips. He swallowed, taking a swig of coffee to wash it down. “He’s a nice kid though, and apparently a jewelry major. Funny that, hey?"

“Oh yeah?” Zayn leaned over to poke at the stud under Louis’ lip. “Maybe he can make you shine bright like a diamond one day.”

Louis smacked his hand away, giving him a sour look. “Please don’t.”

He backed away, holding his hands up in front of him. “A little sensitive about face touching these days, aren’t we?”

“I meant the terrible Rihanna reference,”

Zayn smirked. “Listening to a lot of top 40 in your spare time now, Lewis?”

“No, Zaynnn, I work in a pub that’s close to campus where the students want to listen to shite top 40 music. It unfortunately gets lodged in your brain like a fucking zombie virus.” He picked up his cup, giving a salute as he walked backwards towards the door. “Anyways, I’m out. Thanks for the coffee,” he paused at the door. “And for the record, diamonds don’t shine. They reflect.”

He heard a series of giggles and a loud, “Stupid smart arsehole!” on the way out the door, smiling happily to himself.

Until a few hours later when that stupid fucking song was STILL stuck in his head.

*

Louis continued to sneak out and watch Harry in the mornings over the next few weeks after he figured out from Zayn that Harry practiced a couple of times a week. He had prodded Zayn into asking Liam, which turned out to be a good kick off to the two of them finally talking. Soon enough Louis saw them talking and laughing all over campus, and he had to wonder what Zayn could possibly be saying that was so funny. Zayn wasn’t funny. Zayn was smart and knew a lot of useless facts about art and shit, but funny? No. Or maybe Zayn was making a lot of his bad Renaissance puns and Liam was strictly laughing at him out of pity. Or maybe Louis was just a little bit annoyed that he kept seeing them around and never once Harry, aside from his glimpses of him during his stalker sessions.

But that was until today when Louis had accidentally dozed off, only to wake up to a curious looking Harry. He sat up on the bench a little abruptly, swiping a hand through his hair to fix it, suddenly remembering that he had put a beanie on.

Harry pulled his bag back up on his shoulder, a smile tugging at his lips. “You sleep here often?”

Louis gave him a bright smile back. “Only on Tuesdays.” This earned him a laugh, and he kind of wanted to hear it again right away. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you around lately,”

He seemed surprised that Louis cared about his whereabouts, his god damn face doing that cute pink blush again. “Oh, just been busy with homework and a couple of projects that were due. Plus with rowing and the choir, I don’t really have much time off. So today is like, my only free one in a while.” He looked hesitant for a moment, before looking at Louis again. “Are you working tonight?”

“No, not tonight,” but when he saw Harry’s face fall a little he quickly formulated a plan. “But, if you wanted, we could still go there and have a few drinks? Niall’s working, and I’m sure Zayn would be up for joining in as well.”

Louis figured by adding more people it wouldn’t freak Harry out into thinking he was asking him on a date or something. Because he wasn’t. He just wanted to drink and stare longingly at Harry’s hair and not wish that he could touch it.

Harry beamed at him. “That sound brilliant! I’ll bring Liam too.”

Louis almost rubbed his hands, complete with evil laugh. Thankfully he stopped himself. “Yes, definitely. See you around 7ish?”

“Definitely.”

*

Louis sat at the bar with an extremely anxious Zayn, who Louis had to keep smacking to in order to get him to stop fidgeting. He settled down somewhat when Liam and Harry finally showed up, because Liam was actually a really nice lad, and Louis didn’t know if anyone could ever feel uneasy when talking to him. He was warm and friendly, and though Louis couldn’t quite tell yet if he was into Zayn, he definitely caught a few shy glances that he gave him when he thought no one was looking.

Harry on the other hand was a different story all together. He apparently really needed this night out, because Harry Styles was drunk. And it was quite a sight to see. Louis didn’t think he would ever get over his outfits – tonight he had on grey skinny jeans with a white scoop neck t shirt that was hanging dangerously low on his collarbones, which were even more exposed now that he had shucked the black blazer that was originally over top of it. Louis had to avert his eyes on a number of occasions already, taking a long sip of beer each time to try and somehow drown his arousal. Because yes, Louis was attracted to Harry. He just had to admit it. Well, he had already admitted that to himself a few weeks ago that day he saw him with this shirt off, so tonight he admitted it to Niall.

He was behind the bar now, leaning down to whisper into his ear. “You should see him with his shirt off. It’s unjust. Since when do I like preppy boys who dress like they fell out of GQ magazine?”

Niall pulled him into a one armed hug. “Since that night I told you. Never listen to me, do you. Twat.” He let him go, pushing him in the direction of Harry. “Go dance with him or something, he’s just spinning around out there like an idiot.”

They watched him for a moment, eyes closed and truly dancing to the beat of his own drum to some ridiculous Ke$ha song. Well at least he was an adorable idiot Louis mused. He turned, pouting to Niall. “I don’t dance though,”

Niall rolled his eyes, pushing him again with a little more force this time. “Just fucking go out there and shake that huge arse of yours.”

Louis’ eyes widened. “Rude!” But he made his way over there anyways, making a point to shake his arse at Niall on the way.

He tapped Harry on the shoulder, who opened his eyes slowly, his mouth spreading into an even slower grin when he realized it was Louis. “You need a partner in crime out here or what?”

He just nodded his head yes and grabbed Louis’ hand, spinning him around and burst out into crazy giggles. And for the next few songs they BOTH danced around like complete utter idiots. That was until some slinky R&B song came on; some girl crooning about a guy ‘turning her on’ and suddenly things weren’t that funny anymore. Harry startled Louis when he placed himself behind him, his fingers digging into Louis’ hips as he moved his own to the beat of the song.

Louis gave a hard swallow, feeling Harry’s fingers slip a little lower, slowing easing their way to the top of his thighs, while Harry dropped his chin onto his shoulder. When he turned his head, Louis could feel the tickle of his breath on his neck; felt his fingers crawl closer to his inner thigh, felt his crotch grind just a little bit closer to his arse, and this was becoming just a little too heated for his friends Irish pub. On a Tuesday night.

Louis turned around and gave him a smile when he looked confused by their change of positions. “Don’t want to frighten the old folks, now do we,”

Harry nodded distractedly, his eyes fixated on Louis’ mouth. Louis brought his fingers up to it, cocking an eyebrow. “Is there something on my lips?”

Harry shook his head again, licking his own lips while still staring at Louis’ “I…I’ve been thinking about that thing you said,”

Louis laughed, confused again. “I think you’re going to have to be more specific, my verbal diarrhea causes me to say a lot of things.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but instead blushed to the tips of his ears and spun around on his heel, heading out the front door and leaving a stunned Louis on the dance floor. “Okay then.”

He followed after him, finding him leaning his forehead against the side of the building, one arm holding him away from it. He leaned his forehead away from it, giving Louis an opportunity to slip into the small space between him and the wall. Louis tapped his head, smiling up at him. “What’s going on up there?”

When Harry finally registered that is was Louis talking to him, he noted a slight change in his eyes and then he was closing the gap between them, his lips crashing against Louis’. Okay, Louis was fucking shocked at first, but it didn’t take him long get with the program. He parted his lips, letting Harry slide his tongue against his and heard him gasp and moan into his mouth, deepening the kiss. And he kept doing it too, making these pornographic little noises that made Louis want to rip his skin off. Well his trousers actually, but skin sounded much more dramatic.

Harry groaned, pulling away and looking just…mouth watering. Louis shifted uncomfortably on his feet, but Harry grabbed his hips to tug him closer, grinding his hips into Louis, who used all his strength not to let his eyes flutter. Harry let out a ragged breath. “What I was trying to say inside is that I’ve been thinking about that thing you said last week…about you know…blow jobs.”

Louis silently congratulated himself on not letting his eyes pop out of his head. “You want me to give you a blow job?”

Harry laughed nervously, his fingers playing with his lips again, and Louis wanted to smack them away or stick them into his own mouth. “Yes…I do.”

Alright Louis thought. He wasn’t going to say no to Harry, let’s be honest here. He grabbed his hand and started taking them in the direction of Niall’s flat, thanking him once again in his mind for having this place and also allowing Louis to have a key to it. He paused at the bottom of the stairs, looking at Harry to make sure this was what he really wanted.

He searched Louis’ eyes. “Just like that it’s a yes?”

Louis stepped up on his toes to kiss him again, purely to listen to Harry’s little moans. He backed away and felt pretty good about the dazed look on Harry’s face. “You can’t make noises like that and expect me _not_ to want to, Harry.”

And there was the flush again. Louis was a goner.

“Oh.”

Oh indeed. 


	3. Chapter 3

Louis was pretty certain he could make a career out of being on his knees in front of Harry because the noises he had made were fucking _erotic._ Yes, that sounded horribly seventies porno of him, but that was really the only way to describe them. Screw analyzing crime scenes, spending his days making various sexual noises come out of Harry’s mouth seemed much more fruitful. Louis could honestly say that he had never been so attracted to someone in his life, which was actually kind of absurd seeing as they were complete polar opposites. And although Louis would never admit this to anyone – okay, he probably would after a night of drinking with the boys like he usually does – but he always looked forward to seeing what Harry would be wearing every time he saw him. 

He glanced up at Harry and suddenly his jeans felt like a vise grip around his crotch. They needed to come off. He also felt the strong urge to bite his tongue off as well. Harry was slouched down into the couch, shirt hanging off one of his shoulders; the bottom of it rucked up around his stomach showing off his deep v lines. His hair was a disheveled mess, looking even larger than usual from rubbing it back and forth on the couch, his lips red and full from Louis sucking on those too, and Jesus fucking _Christ_ … Louis was not okay.

He got up and crawled onto the couch next to him, meeting his eyes once he sat back up again after pulling his boxers back on, leaving his jeans in a pile on the floor. He searched Louis’ eyes; his pupils still wide and blown out, before reaching his fingers over to toy with the button of his jeans, making Louis quickly grab his hand before he went any further.

“Whoa there, tiger.” Louis regretted stopping him the moment the words came out of his mouth. Especially when the stunned look crossed Harry’s face. But he needed an answer for something.

“Is…did I do something wrong?”

Louis gave his hand a squeeze. “No, Harry, not at all. It’s just…you had a girlfriend just a couple of weeks ago and I don't know if you're going to freak out or something. Like ‘ah I just had my cock in a guys mouth, what have I done’ kind of freak out," he added with an awkward smile.

Harry laughed, his eyes sparkling in the dim light of the room. “I think you’re safe because I had that freak out a couple of years ago, Louis.” He registered the surprise in Louis’ eyes, and smiled a little less bright when he addressed the other part of his question. “As for the girlfriend, no. Mandi is just a family friend that my father has insisted on forcing upon me. She’s just overly touchy feely is all.”

Louis needed a moment to wrap his head around this information. But he didn’t get one, because Harry decided to latch himself onto his neck, his teeth nibbling at the skin below Louis’ ear, his hand stroking up and down Louis’ t shirt a few times before snaking under it, running his fingertips along his taunt stomach. His mouth was at Louis’ ear now, tongue teasing it. “I see the way you look at my mouth…don’t you want to know what it would feel like around you?”

The noise that escaped Louis’ mouth was not human, and frankly, extremely embarrassing.

Harry was absolutely going to pay for that.

*

Louis woke up in Niall’s bed, opting to stay the night there after Harry left. One of the great things about Harry was that he was so laid back; Louis didn’t have to worry about anything being weird. He had just given him one last kiss at the door and thanked Louis for helping him have such a fun night. Thanked. _Him_. So not only was he fit, smart, laid back, he had good fucking manners as well. And judging from the little preview Louis got the night before, he was pretty sure Harry was good in bed too. Louis was in trouble. Big, big trouble.

He glanced at Niall and saw that he was still curled up on his side snoring away, so he allowed himself one more moment of Harry reminiscing before he woke him up. He had finally gotten his fingers in his hair, and combined with the plush feel of his mouth, it was probably one of the top five blow jobs Louis had ever experienced. Okay maybe three. He hummed with pleasure at the memory, a tiny smile hinting at his lips. When he opened his eyes again, Niall was laying on his side smirking at him, clucking his tongue.

“Now, now Lou, you didn’t happen to be thinking about last night while sharing a bed with your best pal did you?”

Louis scoffed, hoping he wasn’t blushing.

“You’re blushing.”

Fuck.

Louis tossed him a familiar look that has come to mean ‘sod off’ over the years. Niall just grinned, rolling over to reach for his phone, moaning loudly when he saw the time.

“Gross, I have class soon. That’s disappointing.”

Louis shuffled up the bed to sit up; stretching out with a yawn. “Yeah, I do as well.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed, reaching down to grab his jeans. “Hey, how did it go between Zayn and Liam last night?” He pulled them on and briefly remembered the reason that they were off. He couldn’t have been bothered to put them back on after the blissful state that Harry had left him in.

He realized that he was talking to nobody though, as Niall had already vacated the bedroom. He supposed that’s what he deserved for slipping into Harry comas every few minutes. He moved into the living room, finding him collapsed onto the couch now, his feat kicked up, fingers tapping on his phone.

Louis leaned a knee up on the side of it. “Hello? I asked you a question, Zayn and Liam?”

He threw his phone beside him, attention on Louis now. “Aw shit, get this. Liam has a boyfriend back at home. Lame, hey?”

Louis frowned, scratching his arm absently. “Fuck, really? How did he take it?”

Niall avoided his eyes, thumbing at the material of the couch. “Yeah, about that…I didn’t exactly tell him yet…”

“NIALL!”

He flashed his eyes at Louis, wide with panic. “Lou, you have to do it, you’re way better at dealing with these kinds of things than I am.”

Louis started to protest, but gave in immediately. He was right. Niall was terrible at bad news. His delivery usually involved tears. His own that is. “ _Fine_. But only because then you’ll owe _me_ a favor,”

He snorted, grabbing a hat off the side table to cover his wild mess of hair. “Pretty sure I already repaid you by letting you fuck on my couch last night.”

Louis stuck out his tongue. “We did not fuck.”

Niall nodded with understanding. “World class blow job then?”

“Life changing.”

He shrugged. “Like I would know.”

Louis smirked, picking his jacket up off a chair. “Why, do you want to?”

Niall got up as well, searching around for his back pack. “I trust you.” Not having luck finding his bag out there, he moved down the hall to his room again, calling out to Louis, “What’s that McDonald’s saying again? Over 60 billion served? They can’t be wrong, Lou,” he giggled out happily.

Louis yelled back at him. “If I ever find your corpse at a crime scene I will refuse to help solve that case!”

He slammed the front door, drowning out the rest of his laughter. And to think he had just agreed to tell Zayn the bad Liam news.

Ugh.

*

Louis knew that Zayn had choir practice later that day. Not because he had sort of memorized Harry’s schedule, but because he was a caring and thoughtful friend who obviously had an interest his extracurricular endeavor. Yes. Let’s go with that. He had sent him to message to meet him in the hallway before they started, hoping to have avoided Harry and Liam, but he sent Harry a precautionary message just in case.

 

-          Hey, hi. Just wondering if you were in the auditorium already?

-          Oh I guess this is our first official message then. So also hello, how are you?

-          Sorry I sound so weird :/

 

Louis shook his head and was about to put his phone away when it beeped back with a message from Harry.

 

-          Haha, you’re not weird :) yes inside and I had a good day thank you. Are you coming to watch us today??

 

Louis was about to answer back when Zayn wandered up to him, craning his head over his shoulder to try and read his phone. He tickled Louis in the side, earning him a hard smack.

“Aren’t you smitten, all these years in uni and you only just discovered that you had a thing for preppy lads. So many wasted opportunities.”

Louis pocketed his phone, trying to think about how he should approach this Liam conversation. “I think it's pretty Harry specific,”

Zayn looked amused. “Didn’t he just have a girlfriend a few weeks ago? You must be very convincing.”

There we go; Louis could work with this. “Yes, in the words of Heart, I’m a magic man. Anyways, speaking of girlfriends…or boyfriends in this case…” Zayn gave him a ‘on with it already look’ “Okay…so the good news is, Liam likes guys, yay! The bad news is, he has a boyfriend back home.”

Louis watched his face, bracing himself for a meltdown. Though he mostly seemed pretty calm. Hmm. Unexpected. “Did Harry tell you that?”

“Actually...it was Niall.”

Zayn’s face finally pulled into a frown. “That little shit! He let me make a fool of myself flirting with Liam all night and he didn’t even say a word!” He slumped against the wall, pulling out a smoke out of habit.

Louis grabbed it from his hands, earning him a deeper frown. “We’re indoors, so that’s not happening. And you know how awful Niall is at giving someone news like that. He’s sensitive.”

“So am I,”

Louis pulled his pouty friend into his arms, rubbing his back. “Yes, I know, you’re our sensitive, starving artist. But hey, this doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with him. You never know right? Your face will have to wear him down eventually.”

Zayn drew a heavy sigh, leaning out of the hug. “You’re right, I just feel like a nut now joining the choir for no reason,”

Louis waved it off. “You have an amazing voice! Might as well show it off.”

Zayn rolled his eyes. “Rightttt. Cause you being here has nothing to do with Harry,”

Louis turned to open the door for him, ushering him inside. “How about this; it was 95% you and 5% Harry.”

He climbed into the middle row again, holding out his hands to Zayn to pass his bag over. “That works for me. See you in a bit.”

Louis watched him trudge down the aisle; shoulders hunched in broody Zayn fashion, and noted how Liam’s face lit up when he saw him. Louis really wanted to be right about this. He thinks Zayn still has a pretty good chance. He spotted Harry talking to Mr. Grimshaw – whose hair was dyed a bright pink for some reason – and admired his outfit of the day. He had on a cardigan… _a fucking cardigan_ …with another one of his low cut shirts that showed off the sharp cut of his collarbones, and Louis decided then and there that it was time for Harry’s payback.

He whipped out his phone, smiling wickedly as he started his message.

 

-          Only you could make a cardigan look hot. I’m definitely imagining sucking on your collarbones right now, leaving all kinds of marks on your perfect, golden skin. You’d like that wouldn’t you Harry, me lying you out on that stage, running my tongue along every inch of your body. Teasing you until you’re so hard that you’ll be begging for it…”

 

He was pretty pleased with himself when he pressed send, and now patiently waited for Harry to finally see it. Mr. Grimshaw was now at the front of the stage addressing the group going over their song list, and Louis watched as Harry discreetly pulled his phone out of his pocket, only to start coughing violently and fumble it out of his hands a moment later, landing in a loud crash on the hard floor of the stage.

Mr. Grimshaw stopped talking, as everyone turned around to look at Harry. He pointed at the phone on the ground, “Harry Styles, unless you are accepting the starring role in the next Scorsese film I suggest you put your phone away while I am speaking. Thank you.”

He scrambled to pick up his phone and Louis thought hey, one more message wouldn’t hurt.

 

-          It’s fun seeing you all hot and bothered. Almost as good as seeing you on your knees xx

 

Harry glared up at him, giving him the finger, to which Louis answered with a wave and blowing him a kiss. Torturing Harry was going to be good fun.

*

He continued to send him messages at the most inopportune times, mostly when Louis knew he would be in class, or about to get onto the lake to row. However, it was actually starting to get to Louis as well; they hadn’t gotten another chance to be alone together with both of their busy schedules. Eventually Louis couldn’t take it anymore and accosted Harry one night after a late afternoon row, pushing him into the bushes and giving him the most stealthy blow job of all time, using one hand to cover up those delicious little noises he made.

They were _finally_ going to get a night together though; everyone was going out to the pub for a Halloween party, and what else was this night for than getting to be slutty for an evening? Sure that mostly just applied to girls and their costumes, but Louis was going to apply it to real life as well.

In honor of keeping up a yearly grand tradition, they argued over costumes once again. Louis always wanted to go as a group theme, that Zayn shot down every year in favour of a being a skeleton. Which was really him just wearing a hoodie with a bone pattern on it, and his standard black jeans and Dr Martins. And Niall always claimed that he didn’t like dressing up, which Louis knew was a blatant lie to get out of the group costume argument, because every year like clockwork he was in some sort of over the top costume. They were all arseholes Louis decided.

They arrived at the pub; Louis in his lonely Ghostbusters costume, Zayn in his standard skeleton ensemble and went to find Niall, who was grabbing himself a pint behind the bar. He turned around and they looked him over a few times before looking at each other in confusion. They looked back at him again, Louis pointing his finger up and down his body.

“And what exactly is this costume supposed to be?"

He gave them both a look like they were the idiots here. “I’m Ellen!”

Zayn stared at him for a long moment before pulling out a smoke, shaking his head as he walked away. Louis laughed, pinching Niall’s cheek. “You make a beautiful lesbian, Niall."

Niall beamed at him. “Cheers!” He made a nodding motion to something behind Louis. “Have you seen Harry yet?”

Louis spun around on his heel to see what Niall was getting on about and oh…he smiled down at his shoes biting his lip. It looked like _someone_ wanted in on his group costume.

He stood there mesmerized by Harry. There he was; every long and lean part of him in a fucking Ghostbusters costume. He stared right back at Louis, the same look of bafflement on his face.

Louis chuckled, shaking his head. “How did you know I’ve always wanted to dress up as the Ghostbusters, did Zayn put you up to this?”

Harry grinned big and goofy. “Surprisingly, no. I’ve kind of always wanted to go as this too.”

Louis drank him in, humming in thought before meeting his eyes once again. “Well, as much as I want to unzip you out of that, a sexy Ghostbusters fantasy doesn’t really seem in the realm of possibilities.”

Harry laughed, looking down at his suit. “S’bit weird isn’t it. Though, I bet you there is some sort of Ghostbusters fan fiction out there somewhere.”

Louis smirked. “Read a lot of fan fiction there, Harold?”

“No, Louis, I just know of it.” But that didn’t stop him from blushing.

“Mmm hmm, sure that sounded verrrry convincing.”

He made an exasperated sound, but decided to drop it. “So, what _would_ you like to see me in then?”

Louis cocked an eyebrow. “Other than nothing?” He took a moment to think about it, enjoying the red flush that reached Harry’s neck now. He slid his eyes over Harry’s mess of hair and made his final decision. “Definitely kitty ears.”

Harry look at him incredulously. “Weird… but okay…I’ll see what I can do,”

“It’s not really any weirder than you reading Ghostbusters fan fiction.”

Harry let out a long groan. “ _Louis_.”

Louis cut him off with a hard kiss, tangling his fingers into the hair at his neck, his tongue sliding in-between Harry’s lips to part them. He sucked on his tongue a little, eliciting one of his favorite noises from Harry, before letting him go a few moments later. He stood there staring at him with glazed eyes, his breath coming out in little pants, “I’ll be back.”

And as Harry pushed his way through the crowded pub it suddenly dawned on Louis that he was going on a mission to find kitten ears to fulfill some sort of weird fetish fantasy for Louis…

Louis really needed a drink.

*

Louis wandered around the pub while Harry was gone, stopping to chat with a few people that he knew from class, even smiling at a few that he recognized from the choir – god, he was in with the Gleeks now? – when he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder.

The person who he came to face when he turned around was definitely, definitely unexpected.

“If it isn’t Mandi with an ‘I’” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

She mirrored his movements, pursing her lips. “If it isn’t Louis with an attitude problem,”

He barked out a laugh. “Cheeky. Maybe I do like you after all,”

She brought a hand to her chest, rolling her eyes. “Oh, I’m so flattered.”

“You should be. I don’t like anyone, really.”

She gave him a once over, her pursed lips forming a smirk. “Is that so. You seem to like my ‘boyfriend’ Harry well enough,”

Louis narrowed his eyes now, wondering why this conversation was still happening. “What does ‘boyfriend’ mean?” he mimed her air quotation marks.

She looked around and crowded in closer to him. “Look, it’s not really my place to say this, but I’m just his girlfriend for appearances. Usually at family gatherings or whatever. His dad doesn’t really accept the whole, you know,” she shrugged.

Louis gave her a wicked smiled. “What, Harry liking cock?”

“God, whatever."

Louis reached out to pat her head. “Oh, I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share, Mandi.”

She gave him a pitying look. “I’m sure I could say the same for you,”

He gave her a bright smile now. “Oh, I do like you.” He gave her another little pat. “Just as long as you haven’t seen Harry’s, love.”

That earned him a tiny smile and chuckle. “Don’t think I haven’t tried, I mean you’ve seen him right?”

Louis urged his lips not to form a frown. He didn’t succeed. She only laughed harder.

She shook her head. “He's all yours, don’t worry.” She started to walk away, hesitating a moment before turning back to him. “Just be careful, and don’t fuck him over. Or make it too obvious doing whatever you’re doing. His dad…well, just ask Harry.”

Louis nodded, watching her disappear into a mess of drunken people. He groaned inwardly, dragging a hand over his face. He really didn’t want to get involved in weird rich people dramatics. But he figured he should give Harry the benefit of the doubt and let him explain in his own words. Plus he hadn’t even seen him fully naked yet. And that was unacceptable.

*

When Harry came back a little while later, Louis was deep into an argument with Niall about which of their football teams were better, so he didn’t notice him right away. It was only when he heard him laugh at something that Liam said that Louis turned his head towards them, almost choking on his beer. Harry not only had on fuzzy black kitten ears, he had also changed into regular clothes – black jeans that looked a lot more like tights than any sort of denim product, and a black fitted button down shirt. Louis dropped his conversation, mumbling an ‘excuse me’ at Niall. Niall angled his head to see what had gotten him all flustered and rolled his eyes repeatedly when he saw that it was Harry, moving along to join another conversation.

He walked over to Harry and grabbed his wrist, offering an apologetic smile to Liam. Harry turned around to face him, his eyes flickering over Louis’ chest tattoo – Louis had strategically lowered his zipper, because two could play at this game. Even though Harry wasn’t really playing at all. He was just being obliviously unfair with his naturel ‘oh look at me I’m sexy in anything’.

“Dance?”

Harry nodded slowly, his eyes still glued to the exposed ink on Louis’ skin. As a person that used to be a fan of sitting on the sidelines and not dancing to shit music, Louis had certainly changed his tune the last few times he had been out with Harry. But he liked the feel of Harry’s hands gripping into his hips, the way his eyes bore into him, the way his tongue inched along his bottom lip as they swayed together in a filthy rhythm. Louis wished he knew what he was thinking. Though he was about to find out.

Harry looked down at the tattoo once more, then back up at his eyes. “Do you think we could finally sleep together, please?"

Well wasn’t that just the most formal sexual advance Louis had ever heard. He grabbed Harry’s hands in his, tilting his head. “Harry, babe, did you just politely ask if we can fuck?"

He groaned, his face flushing a deep red. “I am awful at this. Maybe you should just ignore me.”

“Kind of hard to do that now,” he paused, giving Harry an amused look. “You know, I don’t usually give in so willingly,”

Harry looked mildly confused for a moment before he understood what Louis was saying. “Oh shit, Louis, I didn’t mean…like you don’t have to let me…”

Louis leaned up, trailing his tongue along the vein at Harry’s neck until he reached his ear. “I just wanted to see you squirm a little… you can do whatever you want to me…and you’re keeping those ears on as well. Fair warning.”

Harry was practically dragging him out of there seconds later, and just as they were almost out the door Louis caught Mandi’s eye, the look she gave him purely telling him he was a naughty boy. She shook her head, lips turned up at the sides slightly and Louis just wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to laugh and turn away.

He’d deal with the drama later.

Kitten ears were much more important right now.

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lot's and lot's of sappy Larry because I love them okay? Okay  
> XO

As it turned out there were a lot of benefits of Harry being an athlete, more than just his fit body, and that was probably why Louis was feeling a lot older than his 21 years that morning. It also turned out that Harry was very much into cuddling, which Louis wasn’t surprised about at all. He had curled himself around Louis before falling asleep, and he had thought he was going to need a crowbar to remove him if he was ever going to get any sleep himself. Not to say that Louis didn’t like it, but his grip was awfully consuming and it wasn’t something that he was used to. He did eventually ease up and roll away, and was now snuggled into the pillows on the other side of Louis’ bed, the fuzzy kitten ears still tangled into his hair.

Louis reached over to pull them out, careful not to jostle Harry awake, but even just the lightest touch had him fluttering his eyes open.

Louis frowned, running a thumb along his cheek. “Sorry for waking you,"

He shook his head, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “S’fine. I don’t usually sleep this late.”

“Harry, its 8am,” Louis said flatly.

He looked a little panicked now. “Is it?! Shit!”

Harry was about to sit himself up when Louis placed a gentle hand on him, pushing him back down against the pillows. “Harry, I think you can take one morning off. You got a fair bit of exercise in last night after all.”

He chewed on his lip thinking momentarily, before succumbing and relaxing back into the mattress. “Yeah…alright.” He looked at Louis hesitantly, his voice quiet. “I had a really good night…did you?”

Louis smiled warmly, running his fingers through Harry’s wild mess of curls. “I had an amazing night…really, really…amazing.” This earned him a shy smile, which Harry half hid in the pillow. He kept his fingers in his hair, scratching lightly and Louis swore he almost heard him purr. Louis would forever have fond memories of kitten ears from this day forward.

Louis quite liked waking up next to Harry, but he knew they would have to talk about what Mandi had told him if this was going to continue happening. “Hey, Harry?”

“Hmm?” God he sounded so content. Louis hated to ruin that, even for a few minutes.

“How does your family feel about you…being gay?”

Louis kept up the soothing motion of his fingers, noting the way Harry’s peaceful facial expression changed. His eyes still remained closed when he spoke, leaning into Louis’ touch. “Well, it’s definitely not my father’s favorite thing about me. There are rules. But he accepts it in his own way I guess.”

Louis didn’t know how far to push it, but he was curious now. “What kind of rules?”

When Harry finally opened his eyes, they looked so sad and Louis fucking hated it. He hated that all parents weren’t as accepting at his, that love that was supposed to be unconditional no matter what, wasn’t. “I can have a boyfriend but like, I’m not allowed to flaunt it. Not my choice of words obviously. And that anything like that has to be done on my own time. When there’s family gatherings, or important social events that I have to go to, it’s mandated that I go with Mandi,” he shrugged, absently running his fingers along the sheets, avoiding Louis’ eyes.

He covered his hand, leaning over to touch their lips. “I’m sorry, Harry,” he murmured against them.

He looked down at their hands, twining their fingers together. “It’s okay…I just…I don’t know what you want here, but I really like you, Louis…a lot…but if this does go somewhere, I don’t want to make you feel like I don’t want you or care about you because I can’t take you certain places. I would never want to hurt you like that.”

Louis leaned back, his thumb running along Harry’s cheek again. “Hey… I really, really like you too. And I get it, I understand that you have an obligation to your family. They’re _your_ family; I would never come between that. I’m not really made for fancy parties anyway, I mean…” he indicated down his body, giving Harry one of his crinkly eyed smiles when he looked back up at him.

Harry’s eyes roamed his face, a hint of sadness still behind them. “I just need you to know that I would want you there. If I could.”

“Then that’s good enough for me."

Harry’s lips quirked up, looking at Louis in awe now. “Why are you being so easy about this?”

Louis couldn’t stop smiling at him, or running his fingers along whatever patch of skin he could reach because all he wanted to do was reassure Harry. Because he made his heart skip in ways that he didn’t understand, and he wanted to keep that feeling for as long as he could. “Remember when I said I really, really like you? I just want to be with you. I’ll take you any way I can. Even if that means being your sort of secret boyfriend.”

“You want to be my boyfriend?” he said breathlessly, his eyes wide with shock.

He didn’t even realize he had slipped that in there. Now it was his turn to be a little shy. “I guess I do, yes.”

Harry rolled over, looking up at the ceiling, biting back a smile. Louis gave him an inquiring look. He turned his head, smiling wide. “I just needed a moment. I’m happy.”

Louis tousled his hair, leaning in to kiss him. “Good. What do you want to do today?”

Harry looked like he was about to burst, he was smiling so hard. “Everything.”

Louis shook his head laughing, kissing him again because apparently he couldn’t stop. “How about we start with breakfast?”

“In bed?”

Before he answered he thought what the hell, one more kiss wouldn’t hurt. “Yeah…In bed.”

*

The rest of their winter term went by fairly quick, or maybe it wasn’t that quick at all and it was more or less that Louis was so consumed by everything Harry. He no longer had to hide the fact that he loved watching him row, even though Louis thought it was way too fucking cold for him to be doing it, because apparently Louis is a worrier now when it came to Harry. Yes…he _worried_. However, he also found it oddly calming to watch him glide gracefully over the quiet water of the lake, so that made him worry a little less.

He still managed to watch their little glee club as well whenever he got the chance, not knowing what was better when he did so – seeing the idiotic longing stares and heart eyes between Zayn and Liam that neither of them have done anything about yet, or listening to Harry’s arousingly raspy singing voice. Because it always reminded Louis of the other voices he enjoyed coming out of his mouth. So, more often than not their practices ended quite well for Harry; Louis ravaging him as soon as they got back to his flat; and not stopping until Harry was curled up against his side with a sleepy and satisfied smile on his face.

Louis was just a little bit smitten.

Not even meeting Harry’s disapproving father at their winter showcase – which their glee club won and Louis would rather die than admit to anyone that he bounced out of his seat right away, clapping and whistling for them like a manic – could take away the spring in his step when it came to Harry. Louis knew that most people weren’t a fan of his tattoos and piercings, hell even his own mother gave him ‘the look’ whenever he showed up with a new one, so he didn’t expect anything different from Harry’s father. What he wasn’t prepared for was the way that he looked at Harry – Hostility? Disappointment? Disgust? Louis couldn’t really be sure, but he knew that it made his blood simmer just by the simple fact that it was directed at Harry.

Louis had made sure to hang in the background while the parents milled about, doling out their congratulations and proud smiles to their kids. He thought that he had caught Harry in a moment that was just for their own, resting a hand on the small of his back as he murmured into his ear how amazing he sounded, Harry having to bite back a smile from all of Louis’ praise, when they heard a voice clearing behind them. Louis turned around, dropping his hand away from Harry just in case. Harry spoke up first, his voice wavering. “Hi, Dad.”

He ignored Harry, keeping his eyes focused on Louis. Not harsh. Not angry. Merely focused. Mostly on his appearance. “And you are?”

Louis felt like the proper thing to do was hold out his hand, so he did. “Louis Tomlinson, sir…I’m…a friend of Harry’s.”

He hesitated briefly before clasping his hand in Louis’, dropping it moments later; his expression showing a hint of annoyance now. “What _kind_ of friend.”

Now it was Louis’ turn to be the hesitant one. He didn’t want to cause any more trouble for Harry, but it was Harry that answered for him. “He’s my boyfriend dad but don’t worry, he knows the rules. Hell, he even likes Mandi. At least one of us does right?” he added defiantly.

Harry’s dad crossed his arms on his chest, sighing in frustration. “I swear you go out of your way to piss me off, Harry.”

Harry fisted a hand through his hair, his whole body tense with aggravation now. “What, now I can’t even pick my own boyfriends without your approval first?”

Louis just watched as his father stared at him with his jaw clenched, and Harry rolled his eyes, grabbing at Louis’ jumper to lead him away. “Right, well it’s a good thing it’s not up to you then. Thanks for coming I guess.”

Harry turned to leave and Louis followed, almost crashing into his back when Harry’s dad called out to him, causing him to freeze in his tracks. “You better be home for Christmas, Harry….Alone.”

Anyone from a mile away could have heard the warning in his tone. Harry looked at him over his shoulder, throwing him a smile that came out as a grimace instead; his voice tight. “Of course.”

He didn’t stop moving until they both hit the cold winter air, his breath puffing out hard against the chill. He immediately pulled Louis into his arms, holding him so tight he had to struggle for a breath. He pressed his lips into Louis’ hair, his voice still shaky. “I’m so sorry, Lou.”

Louis unclasped his hands from his back, mostly because he probably going to need his vital organs, and stood back to look at Harry, running a hand up and down his arm. “Babe, I’m the one whose sorry…that’s…that’s really awful for you.”

He kicked absently at the ground and yet somehow his white converse still remained pristine. “I never realized I guess…at least I don’t have to see him again for a few days…” he paused, looking back up at Louis. “Do you think…maybe I could stay with you until then? I mean, unless you have to go home too…”

Louis smiled at the silent plea behind Harry’s eyes, clasping their hands together. “I’m not due home til Christmas day as well. So, please come and stay with me.”

Harry looked relived, leaning his forehead against Louis’, his voice quiet. “Thank you.”

Louis swallowed the words ‘I would do anything for you’ and simply nodded instead. He gave a Harry another squeeze and ruffled up his hair. “Let’s go find the guys and get drunk. Tis the season after all.”

They found them at the pub of course; Zayn silently pouting about the fact that Liam had gone home with his parents after their performance earlier, while Niall tried to console him with sloppy kisses on the cheek and many shots of whiskey.

After the latest shot Zayn moved his face just so, making Niall’s lips connect with his own this time instead of his cheek, which ended up with Niall on his ass on the floor after falling off the stool in shock. He blinked up at Zayn a few times, his cheeks ruddier than usual while everyone cackled around him, Harry laughing so hard he needed to pull out his inhaler. Louis frowned, because he didn’t even know he used an inhaler, and now that was just one more thing he needed to worry about.

Zayn’s shoulders were still shaking with laughter when he offered his hand to Niall to pull him up. “Sorry, but your face right now is worth it. Plus you know, Liam’s never going to kiss me. Might as well be you.”

Niall pouted as he eased himself up off the ground but shook it off right away, grabbing Zayn’s face and giving him another loud smack on the lips. He gave Zayn a friendly pat on the cheek after, sitting down again and reached for his pint glass, tipping it in a salute, “Happy early Christmas.”

Zayn snorted, lifting another shot glass to his lips when he noticed Harry looking at him curiously. “You know Liam broke up with his boyfriend right?”

His hand froze, eyes widening while Louis grabbed the shot from him, throwing it down his own throat. “What the fuck! Harry, you’re supposed to tell us these things a little sooner, babe.”

Harry looked sheepish now, ducking his head down. “I didn’t even know he was like this for him,” Harry pointed at Zayn’s face, which was now in the Liam heart eyes zone, lost in a deep trance of all things Liam, undoubtedly planning their first date in his mind right now Louis thought with amusement.

Niall glanced at him before pouring them another round of shots, shaking his head. “I’m pretty sure there was a newspaper announcement about it. It's all very sad.”

“I just wish that I had known, I would have said something before he left,”

Louis hugged an arm around him, cheersing his glass with Harry’s. "There’s always New Years, will he back then? Everyone loves a good snog on New Year’s.”

Harry turned to face him, slinging his own arm around Louis waist to pull him closer. “He should be, but I’ll message him just in case.” He then gave Louis one of his shy smiles that simultaneously made him want to wreck him and put him into bed and wrap him up there so he could never leave. “What about me? Will I get a good snog on New Year’s?”

Louis tugged him down to his level, their lips not quite touching. “You, my lovely, will be getting snogged all night long, you don’t just get one.”

“I can’t wait.”

*

They woke up the morning of Christmas Eve to Louis’ phone going off every few minutes, as he cursed himself for not putting it on silent. He groaned, rolling onto his side to reach out for it, scrolling through the messages until he got to Niall and Zayn’s, opting to play Zayn’s voicemail. It was a ridiculous rendition of Happy Birthday, which eventually had him giggling, causing Harry to lean over and listen in.

When it was over, Harry gave him a look of surprise. “It’s your birthday? Why didn’t you say anything?”

He shrugged. “S’not a big deal really. Just another day.”

Harry smiled down at him, pushing his fringe off his forehead. “It is to me. What would you like to do?”

Louis pursed his lips, face scrunched in thought. “Hmm…what to do, what to do…” He glanced at Harry, who was watching him expectantly. “Let’s see…it starts with Harry….and ends with Styles.”

He grinned, crawling over to straddle his waist, leaning down to catch Louis’ lips. “It just so happens that is my name,”

“That is very convenient Mr Styles.”

Harry sat back while Louis ran his hands up and down his arms, finding himself lost in the deep green of his eyes. Harry’s lips quirked up at the sides, forming a tiny smile. “What?”

Louis swiped his thumb along his bottom lip, causing Harry to catch it between his teeth, nipping at the soft skin. Louis felt his heart beat a little faster. “Nothing…you’re just…”

Louis sat up suddenly, his blood strumming through his veins like a fever as he pressed his lips against Harry’s in an attempt to drown whatever words that were going to come out of his mouth. Louis wasn’t really sure himself what they were going to be, but he had a pretty good feeling they were on the verge of being heartfelt and sentimental. And he wasn’t quite ready for that yet.

So instead he kissed Harry like he was aching for it, like it was the first and last time that he was ever going to get to do this.

Harry pulled away, gasping for breath, fingers clenched into the skin at Louis’ hips. “Lou…can I…?”

Louis’ smile was fond, forever endeared by Harry’s shy tendencies when it came to asking Louis if he could fuck him. Louis was usually the dominant one, he never let anyone be in control over him, but Harry liked it, and Harry was good…so fucking good at taking care of Louis. He was gentle when he needed to be, rough when Louis asked him to be – though he could always feel the nerves beneath his skin when he requested this, his fingers shaking when he pulled at Louis just a little bit harder.

Louis ran his fingertips in circles at the small of his back, leaning over to whisper again his lips. “ _Please_.”

*

They spent the morning in bed, Louis only interrupting their lazy routine to grab them something to eat against Harry’s protests – it’s your day, I should be doing it! – but Louis just pressed another kiss to his mouth, pulling the shirt out of his hand that he was attempting to put on.

“No. It’s _my_ birthday and I want to wait on you. All you have to do is stay naked. Easy enough right?”

Harry gave a little huff, rolling his eyes, but he complied and snuggled back under the covers.

They sat in his bed eating cereal made for children, while Louis chased Harry’s sugary lips, making him giggle as he tried to escape, collapsing in surrender against the pillows. “You’re going to get sick of kissing me you know,”

Louis fell down next to him, turning over to hide his smile in the warm sheets. No. He didn’t think he ever would.

They were silent for a while, lying wordlessly next to each other until Louis felt Harry’s nose burying into the crook of his neck. “What does the birthday boy want to do now?”

Louis glanced over his shoulder, his eyes dancing mischievously. “Watch Twilight. It’s tradition you know.”

Harry looked at him sceptically. “All five of them?”

“Excuse me, how else are you going to know how it ends?”

“Um, I don’t know, by looking it up online?” Harry said with an evil smirk, fully aware that he was being a little shit now.

Louis made a passive face as he climbed out of bed to find the movies and get them started. “Now you’re definitely watching them all.”

They settled into the first movie with Harry’s running commentary keeping Louis highly amused, though he didn’t dare give him the satisfaction of knowing it.

Harry glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, “Do I really have vampire hair?” He reached a hand up to run his fingers through it, lips pulled into a frown.

Louis smiled, reaching over to tug on an unruly wave. “Yes, but you’re way more fit than Robert here,”

Harry snorted, smacking his hand away. “You're such a liar, but I will allow it. Since it’s your birthday and all.”

Louis just shrugged, bringing his attention back to the movie. And he was amused all over again, because he swore that Harry was silently pouting for the next couple of hours after he didn’t protest the lie.

They got to the inevitable sex scene in Breaking Dawn, Harry looking at him pointedly when they broke the bed. “I bet we could do that.”

Louis cocked an eyebrow at him. “ _Really_ now,”

Harry nodded; his face completely serious. “Definitely. Not here though, I’d prefer to ruin a bed that isn’t yours or mine.”

Louis was beginning to like this fantasy. “And let’s not forget somewhere tropical,”

Harry closed his eyes, humming in agreement. “Yeah. That would be lovely.”

Louis drew his eyes over the peaceful look on Harry’s face and though, yes. It would be.

*

By the time New Year’s came around Louis was almost antsy to see Harry again. Five days was much too long. Yes he loved his family more than anything, but by day five of dealing with four rambunctious girls _and_ his mum, he was more than ready for the quiet comfort of Harry and his shitty flat. He told them all about Harry, knowing he had to say something about why he was constantly checking his phone and smiling at it like an idiot. Which led to more questions and merciless teasing, until Louis finally relented, showing them a picture of Harry. He also tried to hide his idiotic smile when they gushed and cooed over him, triumphantly stopping himself from joining in along with them.  

They were really happy for him, which was great. But yah. It was nice to be back. He was busying himself with getting ready when he heard Harry call out from the front door that he was there, and when he poked his head inside Louis’ room, he smiled widely at him in the mirror, stepping all the way into the doorway. Louis suddenly felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. He slowly turned around, telling his jaw to stay off the ground. “Harry…”

His eyes turned worried, as he glanced down at his clothes. “What? Do I look okay?”

Louis groaned inwardly. For fucks sake, did he look okay? Louis had already been worried about Niall’s black tie theme, seeing that Louis himself didn’t really own any dress clothes, but thinking about how fit Harry was going to look was also plaguing his mind on a daily basis. He was certainly not prepared for this. He had on his black skinny jeans, a white dress shirt with a little blue acorn pattern on it, a black tuxedo jacket topped off with a little white flower on the lapel, and his hair was in this crazy wild wind swept situation and frankly Louis was fucking speechless.

“Babe…you look _really_ fucking fit. Jesus, I’m almost afraid to take you out.” He chewed on his finger nail, thinking about all the girls he was going to have to fend off with a stick. He might actually have to bring one.

Harry relaxed, crossing to room to give Louis a hard kiss, taking him by surprise, tugging on the black skinny tie that he had on. “Pardon me, you’re wearing a suit _and_ I haven’t seen you in five days. How am I supposed to keep my hands off you tonight?”

“Ugh, Harry stop. Niall will kill us if we don’t go. Literally I think.”

He sighed, but gave in quickly, knowing Louis was right. He was smiling brightly seconds later though, pulling out a box from his pocket. “I have something for you.”

Louis looked at it suspiciously, but grinned at Harry as well. “Interesting, because I have something for you,” he said, reaching into his jacket to pull out an envelope.

They both stared at each other before laughing, passing each other their gifts. Harry spoke up. “So, is like like Christmas on New Year’s?”

Louis inspected the box in his hands. “I know you said you didn’t want anything, but I couldn’t help it…should I??” He saw Harry nod out of the corner of his eye, but he was transfixed as he opened the box. He gasped, darting his eyes back up at Harry. “You made these for me?”

Harry had that embarrassed flush on his face but kept his eyes trained on Louis. “Yes…do you like them? They’re black sapphires. I noticed you liked black earrings so…”

Louis almost found himself at a loss for words again. But he knew exactly which ones to say right now. “I love them, babe…I love you...thank you so much.” He took a minute to put them on before looking back at Harry again, nervously intertwining his fingers.

Harry’s eyes bore into him, the hand that was holding the envelope shaking at bit. “I love you too...Louis,”

Louis couldn’t take any more of these nerves, so he pulled Harry forward, standing up to his level to give him a kiss. “Open your present,”

He tore open the envelope and gingerly took out the paper that was in there, his face breaking out into a dimpled grin. “Oh, so you liked that tattoo idea hey?”

As much as Louis liked Harry’s untainted golden skin, he couldn’t help but think how fucking hot he would look with a tattoo, so when he casually brought it up one day it kind of stayed in the back of his mind. “I guess I did. But I don’t know want to know what you pick. Surprise me."

Harry slipped it into his wallet, freeing his hands up to put them on Louis again, running his thumb along his bottom lip before replacing it with his tongue. “I will…thank you. I’m going to start the New Year’s snogging now."

And they stuck to the plan until the clock struck midnight, only stopping to give each other a high five when Liam and Zayn finally kissed each other. They found each other’s lips again, Louis tracing ‘I love you’ into Harry’s back, feeling the smile on his lips when he finally caught on.

This was Louis’ first and best Christmas on New Year’s ever. 


	5. Chapter 5

January passed by without much excitement as January usually does, with the exception of the newly budding Ziam romance that had them all sighing with a breath of relief. Now that Zayn was brooding slightly less than usual, his art styles had somewhat changed; using bright happy colours on his canvases instead of his usual dark moody palate that they were all used to. Louis couldn’t help but smile when he looked them over when he was visiting Zayn one day, proudly on display at the coffee shop. It was a nice feeling to be so proud of his mate.

The only thing that was agitating Louis was the fact that Harry’s birthday was looming, and he knew that Harry’s family was throwing him a huge party. And he also knew that he wasn’t allowed to be a part of it. It really pissed Louis off that it was getting to him, but it was kind of a big deal seeing as he was no longer going to be a teenager. Louis wanted to be the one standing next to him in pictures, grinning like a fool for him, because he _was_ a fool for him. It wasn’t fair and he hated that, but he would never let Harry know that he was feeling this way, especially knowing how much it already hurt him that he had to keep Louis away from these kinds of events in the first place.

Louis knew exactly what he wanted to get him for his birthday as well, and it was going to leave a severe dent on his credit card, but he really didn’t give a fuck. With young age has to come some sort of irresponsibility, or else what was the point really? This was what he was telling himself anyways to make himself feel better.

He had picked up a few extra shifts at the pub to help pay for Harry’s present, so Niall was taking the brunt of his bad mood, a task he happily accepted after a lifetime of friendship. He let Louis snap at him when he needed too, giving it right back to him because just because Louis was being a twat didn’t mean that Niall wasn’t allowed to be one right back to him. And he always smiled at Louis right after because he just _knew_. He would be hard pressed to find a better friend than him. However, tonight he was giving Louis his space; he wasn’t much in the mood for talking with the birthday party happening in two days, coupled with the fact that he hadn’t seen much of Harry that week. It was safe to say that Louis was in an extraordinarily foul mood.  

He was giving a fake smile to the latest person in line as he handed them off their beer, when it suddenly faltered all together. He had to tramp down his anger, because what the fuck was Harry’s father doing here? Louis wasn’t in the mood for dealing with him and his terrible fucking attitude right now that was for damn sure.

“Oh…hello again Mr. Styles… Um, Harry isn’t here if you’re looking for him,"

He cleared his throat before giving Louis a tight smile. “Actually, I was looking for you. Harry mentioned that you worked here.”

Louis’ face twisted in confusion. “Can I get you a drink or something?”

“No, I’m fine.” He stood back, waiting for Louis to make his move.

“Okay, well if you don’t mind, I’m going to have one.” Louis didn’t wait for his answer, he simply turned around and started to pour himself a whiskey on the rocks because he really needed something to calm his nerves right now. He walked past Niall, whispering in his ear that he needed a minute, nodding his head in the direction of Harry’s father. He gave his arm a squeeze in return to let him know it was fine and Louis walked around the bar to one of the high top tables in the corner of the bar to give them some privacy.

Harry’s father slid onto the stool across from him a moment later, looking at him wordlessly, like he was trying to figure out how to start what was sure to be an awkward conversion. Louis took a sip of his drink, savoring the burn of the alcohol against his throat.

“So, if this is about Harry’s party, I am very much aware that I’m not allowed to be there. I don’t need a reminder.” Okay so he hadn’t meant to sound like a dick right off the bat, but Louis really couldn’t blame himself after their last encounter.  

Instead of getting an answer back right away, his eyes dropped to the table a where a photo was being pushed towards him. “I found this in Harry’s room,”

Louis picked it up, his heart rate quickening under the watchful eyes of Harry’s father. He smiled faintly as he took in the picture; he had never seen it before. It was from New Year’s Eve and someone had caught them in a private moment – Louis thanked every religious figure that he could for it not being a picture of them snogging – with Louis’ arm around Harry’s waist, and Harry smiling down at him like he had just won the fucking lottery. Frankly it would be revolting if it was anyone else, but it was _Harry_ , and Louis couldn’t believe that he looked at him that way. Louis didn’t deserve that look. Did anyone really?

He glanced up to find Harry’s father watching him. “I’ve never seen Harry look that happy, you know.”

Louis felt his face flush and he really wanted to squirm around in his seat. “Oh.”

He sighed, crossing his arms on his chest as he leaned against the back of the stool. “Look, Louis, I may not like that Harry prefers…boys…but I do love him. And if he’s this happy, then I can’t deny him that.”

Holy shit. This was not what Louis had expected out of this conversation. He glanced at the picture again, speaking quietly. “I love him too…I would do anything to make him happy.” He was almost afraid to look back up after that little confession.

Harry’s father was looking at him thoughtfully. “That’s good…I think it will make him happy if you come to his party. That’s why I’m here actually. To invite you.”

Louis stared at him in disbelief. “I don’t know what to say,” he quickly swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Thank you.”

He shifted off the stool, indicating that his time was up here. “You’re welcome. And I don’t think I need to tell you its black tie,”

Louis grinned at that. “No sir, you don’t,” he paused, lighting up when he thought of the next thing he wanted to ask. “If you could not tell Harry though…I’d like to surprise him if that’s alright?”

He nodded. “Sure. See you at the party, Louis.”

Louis watched him leave and picked up the picture again, mentally petting the smile on Harry’s face because it would be just a little bit creepy to do it in real life. He was so memorized by the picture that he didn’t notice Niall sneak up behind him. He leaned his chin on his shoulder, startling Louis out of his stupor. He tapped on the picture, snuggling into Louis’ neck. “Where’d you get that? I gave it to Harry. I take a good candid, I must say.”

Louis looked at him out of the corner of his eye, cocking an eyebrow. “Sucker for love, hey?”

Niall pecked him on the cheek; jumping onto the stool beside him. “You know it.” He nodded towards the door, taking a sip of the pint that mysteriously appeared on the table. It was like they followed him around everywhere he went Louis mused. “What did Harry’s dad want?”

“Surprisingly enough, he was here to invite me to Harry’s birthday.”

Niall beamed at him over his pint glass. “That’s brilliant! Does Harry know?”

He shook his head, pocketing the picture so he wouldn’t forget to take it back with him. “No. And I’m giving him his actual present as well. I hope the poor kid doesn’t have a stroke on me.”

Niall giggled. “Stroke on me, haha oh, Lou.”

Louis rolled his eyes, smacking him on the back of the head. “Very mature, you idiot. I’m going back to work.”

He gulped back the rest of his beer and hopped off the stool to follow Louis back to the bar. “You can try it with the maturity card but, I know all your dirty secrets, Tommo.”

Louis slumped over the bar, holding his chin in his hands. “Damn, I keep forgetting that.” He fiddled with a coaster, absently shredding pieces off it. Niall snatched it from his hands, sweeping the mess away with his palm. He immediately grabbed another one, earning him a string of curses from Niall.

“Why are you still pouting, you get to go to the party now. I thought you’d be all smiles and shit.”

Louis ignored him, concentrating on pulling apart another coaster. Niall watched him, determined to get an answer now. “You know, they say that’s a sign of sexual frustration,” he said, pointing at Louis’ pile of cardboard.

He snorted, turning to throw a piece at his head. “What are you a psychology major now?”

He smiled, cleaning up the mess yet again. “Heard someone using it as a chat up line actually.” He nudged Louis’ shoulder, removing the pile of coasters out of his reach. “So, is that it? You sexually frustrated?”

He chuckled at that. “Hardly…I just miss Harry, okay? I haven’t seen much of him this week. Now, please stop looking at me like that, and yes I don’t even need to look at you to know the face you’re making.”

Louis leaned his forehead on the bar to avoid eye contact with Niall, who was hugging him from behind, laughing into his back. “If I may quote Louis Tomlinson himself, that is so not punk rock.”

Louis jabbed an elbow behind him. “God, fuck off. Why are we still friends?”

“Because I’m going to let you stay over with me and have a cuddle.”

Louis rolled his eyes, but smiled into the sleeve of his jumper. “Why do I feel like this is going to be more beneficial for you?”

“You know there’s not much a Horan hug can’t fix.” Niall ruffled his hair and moved away from him to start putting away glasses from the sound of it.

That, and a make out session with Harry Styles, Louis thought to himself. You’ll see him in two days, at his birthday party, which is a very big deal and you will survive until then, so suck it the fuck up.

He peeled himself off the bar to go and help Niall clean up, giving him a wink.

“Thanks."

And Louis knew that he didn’t have to explain the thank you any further than that.

*

It turned out that Harry was even worse than Louis about not being able to see him when he had to make an excuse as to why he couldn’t do something with Harry on the night before his birthday now, which led to their first spat much to Louis’ amusement. He had made up a lie about having to help his mother with something, which entail made him have to make up another lie as to why Harry couldn’t come with him. Louis had to stifle a laugh, because angry Harry was just too precious and adorable.

“What, now I don’t get to see you until Sunday?”

Louis could almost envision him tugging at his hair in frustration. “Babe, I know, but I can’t help it. It’s my mum you know? It’s only two more day's, okay?”

He let out a long sigh. “I know, I just wish I didn’t have to deal with this stupid fucking party that I don’t even want.”

Louis bit back another laugh. “Hey, language kiddo,”

“I’m not a fucking kid, Lou.”

You kind of sound like a petulant child right now, but Louis didn’t mention that. He did feel a little bit bad, but he knew that it was going to be worth it. “Harry…”

“I’ll talk to you later."

He hung up and Louis frowned at the phone. “That went well,” he said to his silent flat.

He spent the night with Zayn and Liam to distract himself, getting their opinions on what he should wear to the party. In the middle of a debate over tie, bow tie or suspenders – Liam was really rooting for the suspenders, and Louis thought they weren’t half bad, but perhaps not dressy enough – when he got a message from Harry.

-          Hey I’m really sorry for being a little shit today. I love you okay? xx

Louis wondered how long Harry had worried over sending that message

-          It’s okay love because you’re my little shit :) I love you too xx

He almost added see you tomorrow, and then remembered duh idiot, it’s a surprise and the cause for all this trouble anyways.

He turned back to Liam and vetoed the suspenders much to his disappointment, and ended up going with black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, tweed blazer and brown brogues, all which he nervously adjusted and readjusted on the car ride there.

Harry’s father stopped by the pub again, insisting on sending a driver for Louis as he was under the assumption that he didn’t have a way to actually get there himself – correct assumption – so now here he was having a mini panic attack in the back of a town car because if Louis didn’t fit in anywhere, it was at this party. He had made sure his tattoos were covered up the best he could, and took out the piercing below his lip for good measure.

He bounced up and down on his heels and steeled himself at the front door, “It’s just a bunch of rich people. How bad can they be?”

As it turned out, they really weren’t that bad at all. They were mostly pretty bored actually. It was funny how people who had money always looked so put out by it, as if it was such a burden for them.  What was that saying? I’d rather be rich in love? Yah something like that Louis mused as he was offered a glass of champagne. He thanked the waiter and turned to walk towards the living room, if you could even call it that, it seemed to go on forever. He spotted Harry leaning against the fireplace, also looking bored, but also looking extremely fit in another one of his black tie get ups.

Harry’s eyes widened in a delightful mix of awe and panic when he finally noticed Louis’s presence; who offered him a small wave from where he was hovering near the doorway. Harry excused himself from the group of people he was with, striding over to meet him.

He worried at his lip with his teeth, nervously darting his eyes around the room, looking for his father Louis suspected. “Lou…what are you doing here? I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy to see you, but…”

Louis handed him the glass of champagne. “Take a sip babe, calm your nerves a bit.” He obeyed, slowly licking his lips after and Louis almost groaned. Sometimes there were downfalls to having such a fit boyfriend. Before he could answer he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn.

“Nice of you to make it, Louis.” Harry’s father gave him a smile and though it was still a bit tight at the sides, he was going to take that as a victory.

Harry looked between them suspiciously. “What’s going on?”

His father reached out a hand to adjust the collar of his shirt, wiping absently at his lapel. “Don’t make a fuss Harry, there’s nothing going on. I invited Louis,” he glanced at Louis again. “I don’t think I need to tell you to keep it G rated?”

“No sir, I…”

He cut Louis off, giving Harry one final pat on the chest. “Good. Now enjoy the party.”

Harry watched him wander over to a group of people to greet them, a look of shock on his face. “I don’t understand what just happened here, but I am definitely not going to question it.” His fingers found Louis’ wrist, squeezing into the pulse points. “I can’t believe I get to spend my birthday with you.”

Louis gave him a cheeky grin, “You know how hard it was to lie to you yesterday, you little brat?”

Harry smacked a hand over his mouth, cheeks flushing pink. “There wasn’t a family thing was there… shit, I’m so sorry!”

Louis smiled, hand itching to reach out and touch Harry…anywhere really. “You’re just lucky you’re cute when you’re pissy. Now come on, show me how the privileged like to party.”

Harry snorted, handing him another drink off a passing by tray. “It mostly just consists of champagne and judgement.”

“Perfect! I’m great at both of those things.”

*

They managed to behave themselves pretty well despite their alcohol intake, Louis had never been more proud of his self-restraint. He finally met Harry’s mother and he could see where he got all the charm and manners from. He was chatting with her animatedly when Harry appeared at his side, a gentle hand landing on the sleeve of his jacket.

“Mum, is it alright if we’re excused for a bit? Just gonna go get some fresh air out back.”

She placed a palm to his cheek, giving him a soft smile. “Sure darling, I think you’ve made a long enough appearance.”

He pressed a kiss to her cheek and nodded at Louis to follow behind him. They wandered through the kitchen, and crept up a staircase with Harry placing a finger to his lips when Louis went to ask him what they were doing. He grabbed his hand once they got up there, dragging him down a hallway and into a room at the end of it, closing the door quietly.

Harry instantly pushed him toward the bed that was behind them, catching Louis off guard. The back of it hit his knees, and before he could even acknowledge that he was falling onto it, Harry was crawling into his lap. Louis was trapped in a haze of lust as Harry’s tongue wrapped around his, his fingers working at the zipper of Louis’ jeans while he grinded down against him. Then he finally remembered where he was and pulled off of Harry’s mouth, his hands trying to still Harry’s hips.

“This isn’t a good idea, love.”

Harry shook his head, leaning back in to nip along Louis’ neck, his champagne laced breath tickling at his ear. “I know…it’s a great idea.”

Louis curled his hands around his biceps, pulling him back once more. “Harry, I’d really like to be invited back to next year’s birthday. We really shouldn’t.”

If only Niall could see how mature he was being now. He deserved some sort of recognition. Harry leaned his forehead against Louis’, still trying to move his body against his. “But…it’s my birthday,”

Louis had to grit his teeth. Fuck. He really hated saying no to Harry. So he didn’t. “God dammit…okay but switch spots with me. You have to be quick.”

He of course eagerly agreed and Louis situated himself in-between his knees, saying a silent prayer to the blow job gods – please, please, PLEASE…don’t let us get caught.

 _Thankfully_ there was a god, but Louis felt like he had aged ten years from the stress of waiting for someone to come and knock on the door. He crawled up onto the bed and layed down next to Harry, who leaned over to press a kiss to his lips. “Thanks, Lou.”

Louis poked him in the dimple, stretching over for another kiss. “You played the birthday card you little shit, I had no choice.”

He shuffled closer to him, dropping his head onto his chest. “I’m your little shit though,”

Louis hummed in response, stroking his fingers through Harry’s once immaculately styled hair. He suddenly remembered that he hadn’t even given him his actual gift yet. He tugged on strand of hair to get his attention.“So, I actually have a proper gift for you.”

He sat up slowly, looking down at Louis now. “You didn’t have to."

“I did actually, as this is just as much for you as it is for me.”

Harry’s lips twitched into a smile. “Oh really?”

Louis sat up now reaching for his hand, playing with the tips of his fingers. “Remember how we talked about going somewhere sunny one day?” Harry nodded, eyes curiously watching Louis. “How do you feel about Spain after school’s finished?

Harry grinned, all teeth and pink lips. “I feel rather good about it. Are you kidding though?”

Louis’ face turned serious. “I would never joke about an opportunity to see you shirtless, Harry.”

Harry laughed big and bright, pulling Louis into a hard hug. “Then that’s really, really nice Lou. I can’t wait.”

Louis sat back, moving a stray piece of hair out of his eyes. “And I know you had grand ideas about breaking a bed, but I really don’t think I can afford the damage fee. So if we could not do that, but still bang our brains out, that would be lovely.”

“Okay, Lou.” He looked pensive for a moment before speaking again. “What happens after we graduate then? I mean I guess after you graduate, I still have another year…I don’t want to not be together.”

Louis looked at him confused. “So then we’ll be together. Why wouldn’t we be together?”

Harry looked so serious, his brow all furrowed, and Louis just wanted to kiss him all over because fuck if he wasn’t adorable when he was trying to be serious as well. “Well, you’re going to start applying for jobs right? They’ll most likely be in the city…”

Now Louis wanted to kiss him all over even more. “So I’ll get a car. Any other concerns?”

Harry almost seemed exasperated by him. “You make everything seem so easy all the time.”

“It is easy when it comes to you, Harry. I love you. I’m not going anywhere. So we’ll figure it out.”

Harry tugged him back into a hug, his voice a whisper at Louis’ ear. “I love you too. And let’s break that bed anyways. I’ve got loads of money.”

Louis smiled into his neck, thinking that he should really thank Zayn for being a crazy stalker and joining that glee club.

But there was time for that later…

 

***

 

By the time school was over, Spain was a well-deserved reward. They may not have broken the bed (yet) but they had made good use of it as soon as they got to their room, leaving Louis in a peaceful state of mind as sprawled out on a towel on the beach.

Harry was a ways down the beach, looking like a wall of golden skin – aside from the black star that he got inked onto his inner bicep, which Louis thought was disgustingly hot. He started back towards Louis, his hands hidden behind his back, and a devilish smile on his face.

He kneeled down next to Louis and quickly moved his arms from behind him, placing something onto his head. He sat back on his heels, waiting for Louis to look and see what it was. He pulled out his phone to look and gave Harry a side eye.

“A flower crown? “

“Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair,” Harry sang out to him, giggling afterwards.  

Louis rolled his eyes. “Clever.” He pulled it off and put it into Harry’s waves, tucking one of them behind his ear. He drew his eyes over his face, taking in the green of his irises, the hint of freckles on the bridge of his nose, the cupid’s bow of his lips, that fucking dimple and well, maybe Louis loved Harry a little too much.

That was _so_ not punk rock of him.

And he really didn’t care. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always for reading, I am also on tumblr at stylesforstiles if anyone ever has any questions or comments!! xoxo


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